Keeping the streets clean is not an easy job but someone has to do it.

The man faced with the task of patrolling the Hamilton streets and acting as a "deterrent" to troublemakers is Mervin Dickinson, a veteran former Police officer who has spent the last year as the capital's only City Ranger.

According the Corporation of Hamilton Secretary Roger Sherratt, the initiative has been so successful that he is considering expanding it. He said the Corporation will soon be advertising for another person to take on the job as a second City Ranger.

"I like to think that this place is a little bit safer with me doing my job," Mr. Dickinson told The Royal Gazette yesterday as he took a short break from walking the beat.

"I certainly feel like I'm making a difference. I was a Police officer for 25 years so a lot of the people tend to give me more respect because of that."

Mr. Dickinson spends 40 hours a week patrolling the streets on foot. From North Street to Front Street, his bright yellow shirt is widely recognised now as a symbol of law and order. With fewer Police officers walking the beat in Hamilton, Mr. Sherratt said, the City Ranger's presence is "extremely valuable" in giving would-be troublemakers a moment of pause.

"When I heard about this job I thought it would be ideal for me," Mr. Dickinson said. "I like doing it and I can see myself doing it for a while yet."

While he has no powers of arrest, the City Ranger can usually be on the scene within five-minutes of someone making a complaint, for example about people drinking in parks, to the Corporation of Hamilton.

"Usually when they see me coming, they stop what they are doing and run off anyway. But if they don't, I talk to them and try and get them to stop it. If that doesn't work, I call the Police.

"The aim is to try and resolve the situation peacefully. The nature of the job is not like that of the Police. It's less about enforcement and more about acting as a deterrent."

Mr. Dickinson said his "excellent" relationship with the Police, and his knowledge of the law, are vital factors in helping him to do his job well.

He described an incident on June 19 in which he worked alongside officers to bring a man who was causing trouble in Par-la-Ville park into custody.

"That was probably the most dangerous matter I've had to deal with so far. The man was causing damage to bins and benches in the park. I went along and tried to talk to him but he got worse. When I called the Police he violently resisted arrest and assaulted one of them."

The man was sentenced to six-months in prison when he appeared in Magistrates' Court last Friday.

"I don't like to think that I'm going to be caught in confrontations like that too much. Most of the time, the people I deal with stop what they are doing when I ask them to.

"The aim is to resolve the situation without a struggle. If I can't do that, I call the Police and it's up to them from then on."

Mr. Dickinson said gets a lot of attention from tourists "who see a uniform and instinctively come over and ask questions".

But he described how much of his time is taken up dealing with car washers in the city's parking lot. While this in itself is not illegal, he explained, there are a few people who get drunk while they are doing it and who are coercive in their efforts to be allowed to wash vehicles.

"Sometimes we have to ban certain people from the car parks if they keep being anti-social," Mr. Sherratt said. "It is becoming a problem. At the same time, however, there are a lot of car washers who do an excellent job and don't cause trouble."